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Psychosocial Interventions for Third-Generation Palestinian Refugee Children: Current Challenges and Hope for the Future

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction volume 19, pages 2056–2073 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore mental health workers’ perceptions and concerns about the psychosocial interventions provided to third-generation Palestinian refugee children. Our sample comprised 30 mental health practitioners aged 26–35 years, who were purposively selected at five Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank of Palestine. Thematic content analysis was applied to transcripts of interviews with the practitioners, with a view to identifying key themes. It emerged that psychosocial service providers typically deliver consultation, group, and individual counselling, debriefing, and life skills training to children in Palestinian camps. The main challenges faced by the psychosocial service providers in the camps include a lack of qualified specialist staff, insufficient funding, the political conflict, and poor community awareness of psychosocial services, as well as low salaries and unemployment among psychosocial practitioners. The participants suggested that improving psychosocial services in the future will require investment in the sector, working alongside families and schools, establishing permanent psychosocial centres, and offering professional development opportunities to Palestinian psychosocial service providers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology and Counseling Department, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

    Fayez Mahamid

  2. University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Guido Veronese

Authors
  1. Fayez Mahamid
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  2. Guido Veronese
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Correspondence to Fayez Mahamid.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University’s Research Ethics Board and with the 1975 Helsinki Declaration. The study was submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of An-Najah University and received approval before data collection was initiated.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

Informed Consent

Verbal informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Mahamid, F., Veronese, G. Psychosocial Interventions for Third-Generation Palestinian Refugee Children: Current Challenges and Hope for the Future. Int J Ment Health Addiction 19, 2056–2073 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00300-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00300-5

Keywords

  • Psychosocial intervention
  • Mental health services
  • Palestinian refugee children
  • Hope for the future